


Trains and Pancakes

by pastel_didactic



Series: Shuake Week 2019 [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: First Meetings, I'm doing Shuake Week y'all, Love at First Sight, M/M, ShuAke Week 2019, brief character introspection, fluff for days
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 17:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21040346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastel_didactic/pseuds/pastel_didactic
Summary: The first time Akechi Goro met Kurusu Akira, he knew he was lost.





	Trains and Pancakes

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy here I go! Day one of Shuake week: First/Last
> 
> I did something different than what I normally would do for a prompt like this and instead on focusing on their first meeting, I decided to use the first moment they felt that attraction to one another. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! :D
> 
> Shout out to Prompt_Master and Goativa for watching me write half of this in a hyperactive-induced stupor. You guys are amazing <3

The first time Akechi Goro met Kurusu Akira, he knew he was lost. 

It was only a passing meeting. Goro didn’t even know his name at the time, and wouldn’t learn it for a few days yet. He had decided against cycling that day, opting instead for the subway. He was supposed to meet with Sae-san later, and the distance was a big factor in his decision-making. However, reflecting back on the day, Akechi decided that he doesn’t regret his decision one bit. If he had taken his bike, he would never have met the ethereal man he saw board the train that day. 

He had his notebook in his hand, flipping between the pages to settle on a current case. Since he was a student, he wasn’t allowed to handle any real cases. However, he did shadow a couple detectives at the precinct and managed to learn a great deal about their processes just from watching them. There were days when Goro felt that he was lucky, and this was one of them- for more than the obvious reasons. 

Goro’s liaison with the precinct was more like an internship. He was there in an educational capacity, and he really did enjoy it. When he lost his mother, Goro became obsessed with the process of justice, and dreamed of becoming a detective capable of bringing the man responsible for all his misery to such justice. That has since become… warped. Goro’s heart remained dedicated to becoming a good detective, nevertheless. Even if Shido was using his fame to solve these “mental shutdowns.” This did give him a not insignificant level of fame, which was nice. However, it wasn’t exactly what he’d planned when he went into this profession. 

Either way, no matter what became of his profession, he wasn’t expecting it to last long after his reveal of Shido’s corruption. He decided to take this time to do as much good as he could, even if half his cases were staged. 

That found him on the platform of the subway, headed to Shibuya’s police precinct. The book in front of him was full of his case notes, and mostly on a robbery he was currently shadowing. Goro had a good idea who was behind all of it, being the shopkeeper’s son, but he wasn’t in a place or authority where he could make that kind of claim. So he made his notes and studied them, the better to put them to use for when the time came. 

Something in him told him to look up- he, to this day, has no idea why. He looked like a man possessed, his head drawn up as if it were on a marionette string. There, just before the yellow doors slid closed blocking his view from the passengers inside, was a raven-haired boy about his age. Goro wasn’t sure what he expected when he looked up, but he sure as hell didn’t expect to have his breath nearly stolen from his lungs by the boy who didn’t even notice he’d seen him. There was something about him- something that Goro wasn’t even entirely sure was human. Surely no human on earth had any right to look that gorgeous. From the distance where Goro was standing, he couldn’t exactly see  _ many _ details, but he saw the boy had glasses that framed his face along with what looked to be a rather untamed mess of curls on his head. How those two things worked for Goro, he wasn’t sure, but they did, and he wasn’t positive what to do with that information. The boy was just an inch shorter than he was, and had these absolutely  _ impossible _ gray eyes. Goro wasn’t sure exactly what color they were- a darker gray than slate but somehow lighter, too. Such an instantaneous attraction should be impossible, for someone as restrained as himself. 

Typically, Goro didn’t allow himself to  _ look _ at other people. It was extraneous, out of the way. He had a job to do, a task to complete, and he never thought of how  _ other people _ could affect him as a person. Yet here he was, somehow wishing that he’d have cause to see that boy again, and soon. He wanted to learn his name, at the very least. 

****

Honestly, today seemed like a normal day when Akira got out of bed. 

He’d gone to school, and things were fine. He met with the others- things still fine. They were concerned about the events at the TV station and what that could possibly mean for their reputation. Which, Akira would be a liar if he said that wasn’t a valid concern. He was worried too- the detective who they were interviewing was sharp. For all that he seemed to be interested in pancakes and ostensibly  _ not _ catching them and branding them as the Phantom Thieves. The detective himself was nothing if not interesting, however, threat though he may be to their whole plan. Even if that plan consisted of nothing but, “keep doing what they were doing and pray for the best.” 

Akira wasn’t sure exactly what he was supposed to do as the leader of the newly christened Phantom Thieves. He’d never actually  _ led _ anything before this, and the others already looked up to him. They seemed to have such faith in him as it was, and he was supposed to know what to do next. Which steps they were supposed to take, or what was best for the group. It wasn’t that Akira minded leading- something in him craved it. Deep down, Akira craved that level of control. That confident ability to make sound choices that benefited the entire team. 

But there was also all the risk that came with that power, and in his case, that risk came in the form of an attractive detective named Akechi Goro. 

Akira was more in tune with people and their emotions than one might expect. Maybe that had something to do with the whole “wild card” thing Igor droned on about, but Akira thought that was just who he was as a person. When Akechi turned the corner and saw them, saying something enthusiastic about pancakes, Akira had to admit he saw a lot of charm. The inquiry seemed genuine, but it was the look on the other boy’s face when they told him they were talking about Dome Town, but pancakes. 

He looked so distressed- like how could they possibly be talking about anything other than delicious pancakes? What a travesty! Wine red eyes opened wide, shock evident on his face. That face… Akira didn’t like the way that Akechi seemed to mold his face. Akechi was very pretty- that was a fact. However, some aspects of his face seemed… forced. That constant, pleasant smile, for example. Akira hated that smile. The way he tilted his head to emphasize that smile in the interview ground Akira’s gears. That smile was so fake- why would he need a fake smile if this was something he really enjoyed? 

Tiny mannerisms that made up the public image of Akechi Goro just felt like several glass shards going down a chalkboard at different times. The way he fussed with his hands. The ramrod straight posture. The light, airy laugh that sounded like tin. None of it was real. Why would someone so confident hide themselves like that? 

Akira got off the train in Yongen-Jaya and made his way through the narrow streets to the cafe. He’d memorized this walk well enough by now, and he definitely enjoyed taking the time to look around while his feet carried him. This was a very nice neighborhood, even if it was squirreled away in the recesses of Shibuya. The whole neighborhood was crammed in a series of alleyways created by nearby apartment buildings and homes by the road like Sojiro’s. Despite being from the countryside, Akira could very comfortably see himself living here for a long time. 

Once at the cafe, Akira opened the door to find a rather unique surprise. Sitting at the second stool from the door, with a crossword puzzle book open before him, was Akechi Goro. 

This Akechi was much different than the Akechi from the TV station. 

He was slouched, with his right leg slung over his left knee, and his right hand propping up his head. He tapped the pencil in his left hand incessantly at the booklet, pausing to write an answer or two. Akechi hadn’t noticed him yet, and as Akira came around to the other side of Goro’s seat, he could better see the brunet’s face. His brow was furrowed with frustration and perhaps anger. Merlot eyes glared daggers into the page, and  _ that _ expression right there made Akira feel some kind of way.

An adorable pinch to the skin between his brows accented his frustrations, and he moved from tapping the pencil against the page to clicking the top with his gloved thumb. He extended the lead out so far Akira was sure the lead was going to come out, but Akechi pushed the lead against the table with careful precision and reinserted the lead back into the pencil through the tip. 

This Akechi was honest. This was really his face- and as he looked up from his booklet to see Akira, the genuine look of surprise that crossed his face entranced the raven. 

Pretty? No. Akechi Goro was  _ beautiful _ . 

“Kurusu-kun! What a surprise! I didn’t think to see you here,” Akechi scrambled to place broken pieces of that mask in front of his face, and Akira gave the slightest scowl. 

He  _ hated _ that fake face. 

“No,” Akira huffed, trying to stop Akechi from affixing that mask, knowing he’d never win. Realizing that he couldn’t just  _ say _ that, Akira covered himself with, “It’s not common knowledge that I live here.” 

“Ah, you… live here? You’re lucky- this is the best cafe in Shibuya.”    


  
Well, at least that's the truth. Though Akira would hazard to say, “all of Japan.” Shibuya was a good start. 

Akira looked over Goro’s shoulder, leaning in close. He heard a faint sound from the brunet- a strangled thing. Akechi dropped his pencil onto the floor, but didn’t seem to notice. “Are you stuck?”    
  


“Y-Yes. I can’t seem to get 11 down.” 

Akira’s eyes tracked down to the hint and hummed in Akechi’s ear. Interestingly enough, the detective shivered in response. “A perching bird with a glossy plume and boisterous song? Seems too easy for you, detective.” 

“I’m not familiar with, ah… with birds, Kurusu-kun.” 

“You won’t look it up?”

  
  
“Of course not! That would be cheating, and if I’m going to win something, it’s going to be by my own merit!” Oh, that was the  _ right _ kind of response. Akira felt a surge of playful energy he didn’t even know he had, and a jagged smile crossed his lips. He felt a lot like Joker in that moment, staring down at the seated detective. 

“Oh? Is that so..?” 

Was Akechi blushing? “Y… Yes. That’s what I believe is right, Kurusu-kun.” 

Akira hummed, relishing this time in the detective’s shudder. Leaning down, Akira picked up the pencil, and gave it back to Akechi, “It’s Akira. And the answer is Crow.” 

Akira left the sputtering brunet beauty as he went upstairs to get ready for bed, feeling like he’d won a little bit of a lottery. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be adding this as a series as I go along, and I have a LOT of projects in the works at the moment so please forgive me if I'm slow to update! 
> 
> Until next time! <3


End file.
